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Friday, February 13, 2015

The Republican Obamacare Alternative

Republicans have been correctly criticized for doing nothing about Obamacare's problems but trying to repeal it, as if we were going back to some pre-Obamacare system we all loved, rather than a system probably even more chaotic.

There are some good points in this proposal -- the elimination of employer mandates for one. This is a well-intentioned part of Obamacare that has the unfortunate side effect of leading employers to figure out how to structure their employees' lives to avoid the mandate.

Still, one of the key issues is a lack of trust [in Republicans,
Democrats, and basically politicians in general] highlighted by the
difficulty in making direct comparisons:

Different ages, family composition, income levels, and location will
produce different outcomes that I am sure advocates and critics will use
to come up with one study and example after another to make their
arguments further complicating the Republican's ability to make voters
comfortable with their plan.

Furthermore, there's the general issue about any plan, in terms of what the actual finances will be in, say, 2025. That's a mystery with Obamacare, once the subsidies settle in and there's actual costs and the subsidies to insurers go away. Is the Obamacare structure financially viable, or just some financial house of cards overall?

And, politically, this is A Republican plan, not THE Republican plan -- could the Republicans even pass their own plan? Is this a serious proposal, or just something to point at to say they do have an alternative?